Automatic brake for railroad-cars



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AUTOMATIC `BRAKE POR RAILROADGARS. v

Patented July 5, 1887.-

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AUTOMATI BRAKE FOR RAILROAD GARS. No. 365,840. i IPatented July 5, 188.7.

TY/- 1 A l .A r i N, 1 l f A N. PETERS, Phclo-Lixlwgnpher, wnsnngmn1 D. C. l

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

THOMAS JEFFERSON MEGOVVN, OF BEAVER FALLS,`PENNSYLVAN[A.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 365,840, dated July 5, 1887,.

Application filed May G, 1F57. Serial No. 237,3l8- (No model.)

.To all whom l? may concern;

Be it known that I, THOMAS .JEFFERSON MEGOWN, a citizen of the United States, resid ing at Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented 'certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Brakes for RailroadCars; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertai ns to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thercon,which form apart of this specification.

My invention relates to automatic brakes for railroad-cars, and especially to that kind of brake that is constructed to apply friction to a car-wl1eel and at the same time apply friction upon the top of the rails, in order to brake up or slacken the motion or stop the speed of acar,oratrain of cars, by the backward reci procation of the draw-bar or the means of propelling a car; and it consists in the construction ol' the operating parts and their special combinations to produce the object sought for; also, of a means for releasing the brakes from the wheels and rails when a car is separated from others and the brakes are locked upon the wheels, or to prevent the locking while backing, as will 'be fully hereinafterdescribed.

In the drawings, Figure l is an uprightside view of one end of the sills of a car, itswheels, and the operating parts of the brakes when the brakes are oii'. Fig. 2 is a View of the same, partly in section, and showing the brakes on the wheels and the rails. Fig. 3 is a transverse section ofthe same on line y y] of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4t is a perspective of the brakestocks, in which the brake-shoes are secured and reciprocate.

A represents the ordinarylongitudinal sills of a car; A', the main `end sills, and a a the necessary cross intermediate sills.

A represents the car-wheels, secured tothe ear-frame by any of the well-known means. l

B represents the draw-bar case, `secured to the sills of the car in any suitable and secure manner; and B represents the drawsbar in the case B, having any of the usual forms of construction to allow of proper reci procation in the case and means for coupling two cars together.

C C represent brake-stocks attached to the sills of a car by the hinges c, which hinges allow the stocks to vibrate to or from the wheels. These brake-stocks are constructed to have three strong sides, cc, forming the opposite sides, and c" the back, or the side farthest from the wheel. Between thc two sides c are frie tion-rollers 0'", having their axles journaled in the sides c of the stock, as seen in Fig. 4.

C' is a transverse brak e-beam extending from stock on the opposite side, and this beam ispcrmanently secured to the two opposite stocks.

D isalongit'udinal bar attached to the brakebeam C at one end, and extends back beyond the axle of the adjacent wheels ofthe car, where it is pivoted to a crossrod, d, between the parallel arms d d', which are pivoted at d to any secure downwardly-projecting support, d, from the sills or framework of the car. The top ends of arms d are pivoted at dto long parallel arms E, that extend to upwardlyparallel arms E', that are pivoted at e by rod c' thereto at their lower ends.' Arms E are pivoted to support c", that is securedl to the under side of the case B, the pivots c workarms to rise or lall 011 their pivots, while the arms extend above the draw-bar yB', and have near their top ends across-bar, b, that secures the arms in position, and will also act to lock when the cross-bar b drops into the notch bin the top side of the draw-bar.

the open slot of the stocks C, their backs rest ing against the friction-rollers 0 0"', and are kept in place by thc screws s, that are screwed into the sides of the shoes through slots s in the stocks C. The shoes E are slightly concave on the faces that come against the wheels, which bearinglsurfaces are of the kind of metal in use for such purpose, and are removable from the body of the shoes. The brakeshoes may be held in any position desired in the stocks'by the holding-screws s, and so :that the soles will not come onto the railswhen the brakes are on the wheels, when not desired.

F F are soles at the bottom ends of the sliding brake-shoes, and are forced by the revoone brake stock on one'side of the car to the the draw-bar and hold it from reciprocating ing in slots c in the arms, that allows the Y E E are sliding` brakeshoes, that slide in IOC) lution of the wheels when the shoes are bearing hard against them, which forces them down upon the rails, and are irmly attached to the shoes in any proper and sure means.

F is a transverse 'lat spring-bar secured at its center to cross-sill a of the car-body,its ends extending to the top of the brake-shoes E, where itis secured, its office being to lift the brake-shoes and soles up when the brakes are off.

Fig. 1 shows the cross-bar b raised upon the top of the draw-bar and in a recess, b, in the lower side ofthe topof case B,`and the drawbar is free to reciprocate, and the brakes are off, while in Fig. 2 the brakes are on the wheels and the bar bis in notch b', and the brakes are locked on unless a forward movement is made upon the draw-bar, and if a car is separated from4 the propelling power so locked a means must be provided for raising the bar Z) out of the notch in the draw-bar, else the car cannot be easily moved, and for such purpose a hand device is constructed consisting of a hand-wheel, G, on upright shaft, g, and is placed upon the platform of a car, and passing through and below the platform far enough to have a Windingchain, g', attached thereto and extending back to top of 4pivoted lever h, that is pivoted to case B at h', while the lower end 0l' lever h has a link or rod, i, engaging bell-crank i', that is pivoted at its angle to the brake-beam C', and its inclined arm j, having at its outer end friction-rollerj, to act upon a cross-bar, k, thatis secured on the top of arms E, which construction, when shaft g is turned t-o shorten the chain g', the long inclined arm of the bell-crank is moved to have the friction-roller lift the cross-bar lo upward, and thereby raise the cross-barb out of the notch bin the draw-bar, which allows freedom tov said draw-bar, and the car or cars can be moved in any direction on the track.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. In combination with the draw-bar of a car, the pivoted arms E', E, and d', arms D, brakebeam C', and the hinged stocks C, having sliding brake shoes E therein, substantially as described.

2. The brake-stocks C', having therein fricu tion-rollers 0 c, and the sliding brakes E,

THOMAS JEFFERSON MEGOWN. i

Witnesses:

J. F. MILLER, G. L. EBERHART. 

